It’s official. High school football will be played in Colorado this fall. How many and which schools participate are the next questions on the table. 

On Thursday afternoon, the Colorado High School Activities Association released specifics on what the fall and spring football seasons would look like. The CHSAA Board of Directors voted late Wednesday night to allow schools to decide whether to play football, field hockey and sideline cheer, three sports that were approved with the new guidelines for organized sports issued by Gov. Jared Polis. 

Schools can still choose to play football in Season A — in the fall — or Season C — in the spring — but not both. There will be two seasons, two playoffs and two sets of state championships. Teams must declare which season they are participating in by 8 a.m. Sept. 21.

The structure for Season A and Season C will be identical, comprising of a 6+1 season, meaning all teams will play a six-game regular season. Teams must play at least four of the six regular-season games to be eligible for postseason. Teams that don’t qualify for the playoffs can choose to play another non-qualifying team in week one or two of the postseason. 

All schools, regardless of season, will have a schedule built by CHSAA due to the short time frame between now and the start of the season. Practices will begin Sept. 24, with first games Oct. 8. Playoffs will begin Nov. 21 and the championship will be played Dec. 5. 

The playoff race will be highly competitive, with just eight teams qualifying based on the CHSAA Seeding Index. 

If 50% of a league is playing in any given season, the league will remain intact. Otherwise, leagues may need to be adjusted. Important Dates